


Ice and snow

by bunnysworld



Series: Have a Camelot Christmas 2017 [16]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chance Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: Merlin hates having to scrape the windshield and get the snow off his car in the morning. When he comes out of the house, someone has already done it for him.





	Ice and snow

Merlin groaned. Of course he had seen it from his window, but it was different to know that you had to brush the snow off your car and scrape the windows than actually having to do it. It was cold!

Considering it was December it wasn’t even that cold with temperatures around freezing point, but he was dressed for the office, not for winter sports, which didn’t make him happy at the moment. If he had been somewhere for winter sports, he sure would have enjoyed that his breath left clouds in the air. 

Carefully, he opened the door of the car, put his backpack in and reached for his utensils. He knew he would be late again as he always ignored the weather forecast and rather stayed in his warm bed for a few more minutes. Quickly, he began to work.

The sound of someone scraping the windows of their car shouldn’t have startled Merlin like this, but he had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t even noticed that the man who had parked right next to him was doing it.

“Morning!” The tall bloke nodded. He was in a thick winter jacket, had the right gloves on – whereas Merlin’s fingers were freezing – and seemed to enjoy the additional work-out he got with this little exercise. 

“Morning,” Merlin echoed, a lot less enthusiastic. 

More than once, a groan escaped Merlin when he once again managed to get the ice that he scraped off into his sleeve and the cold touched his arm and wetted his jumper or when he finally brushed the rest of the snow off the roof of his car and straight onto his feet. 

The tall man was done a lot quicker. “Have a good day!” 

“Yeah, right, good day…when it starts like this, it is definitely not a good day.” Merlin mumbled as the other drove away. 

 

Merlin hung his head when he looked out the window the next morning. It had to snow again over night, it just had to, right? It couldn’t have stayed the way it was with the roads cleared and the crap on his car thawed, right? Winter only had just started and it was already going on Merlin’s nerves as he padded to the bathroom to take a hot shower. 

When he finally made it to his car – this time he was at least equipped with a scarf and gloves – he blinked. There was only a fine layer of snow and the windshield was starting to frost over again. Someone had removed the worst of it while Merlin was getting ready. But who? Merlin didn’t know any of his neighbours, only having moved here a few months ago. That someone accidentally had mistaken his car for theirs was unlikely. It hadn’t snowed enough for such a mix-up. Anyways, whoever it had been, Merlin silently thanked them, got in the car and drove off. 

It was weird. No matter how early Merlin got out of the house and how often he stood by the window while brushing his teeth, he never saw who saved him the hassle of getting his car ready for the rest of the week. It could have been creepy, if Merlin hadn’t be so grateful for not having to do this hated task.

 

A week later, the winter had made way for nasty April weather, Merlin ran into the tall man again. 

“Good morning!”

“Hello.” 

“Err…I’m not sure if...you seem to be out early every day. Have you seen who took care of my car?” 

The tall man blushed slightly. “Not exactly seen…”

“You?” Merlin blinked. “You did it?”

“Sorry, I should have asked. But you seemed so disgruntled that one morning and I really don’t mind. It’s probably a bit easier for me to reach the middle of the roof or the windshield as I’m slightly taller than you.”

Merlin laughed at that. Slightly was an understatement. The guy at least was a head taller than him. 

“If you don’t want me to touch your car, though, I won’t do it again. Sorry.”

“Hey…no, I mean, that’s not what I mean. I just wanted to thank you. I really hate when I have to scrape in the morning. I’m only half awake and it’s cold and all that. You shouldn’t have…but I really appreciate it.”

“Oh, don’t think about it. My brother’s in the boy scouts. Maybe that ‘one good deed a day’ thing rubbed off on me.” The man shrugged.

“Good for your karma.” Merlin nodded and beamed widely. The man was interesting. A giant, who obviously worked out like crazy, but a very gentle and soft-spoken person. Merlin was intrigued. 

“I hope so.” Nodding, he opened the door to his car. “Well, then…have a good day.”

“You, too. Hey….”

The man was about to get in his car, but stopped and looked at Merlin.

“You know…you had all the work in the morning with the snow and ice and such…can I buy you a drink tonight? I mean, as a little thank you?” Merlin knew he was babbling and blushing fiercely. He didn’t even know the guy’s name and there he was, inviting him out for a drink. 

The smile on the man’s face widened. “I’d very much like that.”


End file.
